1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of navigating a means of conveyance or vehicle, especially a self-powered vehicle, a ship or an aircraft, from a starting position to a destination, wherein the destination and, if necessary, the starting location are input to the navigation system. The invention also relates to a navigation system for the vehicle, especially a self-powered vehicle, ship or aircraft, for navigating from a starting position to a destination, in which an input device for input of the destination and, if necessary, the starting position is provided.
2. Prior Art
In a vehicle, especially a motor vehicle, aircraft or ship, fixed or installed navigation systems rapidly guide an operator of the vehicle, simply and reliably from an actual starting position to a desired destination, without requiring the operator to obtain a map and perform the work of planning a route. Suitable navigation data is present, for example stored on a CD-ROM, based e.g. on data from a map, chart or street map. The navigation unit determines the momentary location of the vehicle, e.g. for example using a GPS (Global Positioning System), and calculates suitable navigation statements or instructions, which guide the vehicle to a predetermined destination. For example, the navigation data includes data regarding streets and roads for a motor vehicle.
However before the navigation system performs its function and can calculate a route from a starting location to a destination, it is necessary to input the desired destination and, if necessary, also the actual starting location into the navigation system without a GPS. This occurs for example by a manually operated input device, in which the alphabetic characters of a character table are scrolled or called up in succession and are selected, until the selected characters and numbers designate the appropriate destination or starting point, for example a street name and house number of the destination or starting point. This however is troublesome and time-consuming and requires a certain fundamental knowledge of the operational details of the navigation system.